The Broken Flute
by APHMexico
Summary: Matthew is your average wallflower who isn't so social in comparison to his step brother Alfred. However when he meets Gilbert, his mundane life begins to change for the better in ways he could never imagine and unexplainable feelings blossom. He knows out of experience that good things never last, will he finally be happy, or will the fates play him for a fool again?
1. Chapter 1

"The best kind of romance is the one that can never be!" The short haired teen sitting opposite of a blonde with slightly longer hair announced dramatically. He in turn, rolled his eyes, slurping loudly at the drink that vanished over fifteen minutes ago. The teen averted the other's steadfast gaze as he drowned out his constant preachings over romance, which neither he nor Matt ever experienced.

The blonde stared off into space, thinking of all the times he spent time alone, never to share a moment's peace with anyone but himself. Although he had his step brother Alfred, the poor boy was absolutely dense, and therefore could never tell him how lonely he really was. However, he was the only person who stayed when all his friends gradually disappeared, and honestly, he didn't wish for anyone else. All those times he and his older brother Francis watched their step brothers Alfred and Arthur argue over the slightest things were the greatest of times.

"Hey Dude! Did you even hear a lick of what I just said?" Matt looked over at the teen, now hovering over him with a concerned glance, hands planted firmly on the table. The Canadian's lips still wrapped around the straw, he chewed it as he pondered whether to answer him or not. "Let me guess...was it some sort of love comparison to fast food?"

The other stared intently at him, silent for a moment as his eyes looked him over. "You got lucky this time. Anyway, why are you like this, is it because Valentine's Day is rolling around and you're alone again?"

"No, it's more than just that. All these people around us, look at them. Sure, they look so happy around each other, and hold their heads up high as if their love is the purest on earth. Look at her, though." The younger sibling followed his brother's finger and looked over at a younger teen with long hair, a smile plastered to her lips as she embraced a male who looked just as happy as she. "She looks absolutely happy with him, but look in his hands. In his hands, he's holding the number of the girl's best friend. I've seen it when I study after class, he sneaks to the back of the school with the friend and do unspeakable acts from where I get a big view of it from the library. That one girl from across the room, her boyfriend makes wonderful grades. I've heard he might even make it to Harvard, but you know what she does? She's cheated on him since day one, with every man in the baseball team, to the chess club. I know the poor guy perfectly well, but I know if I tell him, it will completely destroy him and his grades will drop. See what I mean? All these people pretend it's love when in reality they're being played for fools, They're just puppets played around in Shakespeare's tragedies by the gods, just to enjoy the misery we endure. I don't want this. I want mine to be real, and even if it takes forever, I'll wait."

"The way you look at stuff is just dark." Alfred uttered rather fearfully. Matthew looked up at him, letting out a strung out sigh. "I just don't know anymore. I'm already forgotten by the world as it is. If my heart gets broken, I don't think I'll ever be the same. Do you think I'm cynical for saying that?"

"I think you're absolutely hopeless." Alfred groaned, slipping back into his seat with defeat, eyes closed as his hands cupped his face.

"Well I just think you've read too many of Kiku's shoujo mangas." Matt silently retorted.

"Come on! Aren't you even a little interested in the guys that go here?"

"Not in the slightest," The blonde replied with a huff, leaning back in his chair with his arms folded over his chest.

"Then who do you like! It seems every time I talk to you about your love life, you always go off into space." Alfred asked, leaning close to his brother again, causing the Canadian to inch away.

"Just none of the ones you recommended to me. Sorry I'm not attentive when you're constantly badgering me over not liking any guys around here."

"What was wrong with them?"

"I'm sorry, but I want someone who's more interested in me than collecting my organs."

"But-but." To the American's dismay, he had already drowned him out by then, his eyes darting to another direction. From there, he spotted his brother Francis high-fiving the Spanish boy he always brought to the house, whom he later knew as Antonio with a brunette that he recognized as Lovino, who was hateful to everyone except him, since he usually forgot his existence. However, that was a common sight to see, what caught his attention was that an albino teen was next to greet his brother, giving him a firm hug before heading back to a blonde and Lovino's younger brother Feliciano. It was him, the one boy who always seemed to capture his attention since he was a intrigued as he was, he ripped his gaze away to his brother, who had gone on a complete rant over something he didn't bother to remember.

Suddenly, a shrill bell went off and away went the American to his business, leaving the Canadian once again, like always, to his thoughts.

"Leave me alone!" Ivan shouted over to Alfred, who just flipped him off in reply. "Burn in hell, you Communist demon!"

"With you in my presence, I'm already there!" The Russian snarled back at him, as the teacher just shook her head, due to the fact that this occurred on a daily basis. Soon, the American reached his brother, catching him by surprise. "Well, aside suffering some burns from that jerk, let's head home!"

"Sorry, can't." Matt replied, gathering his things.

"Why?" Alfred whined, flailing his arms in every direction like that of a child.

"I have to stay after school. Francis talked me into tutoring someone and I decided to do it today."

The blonde eyed the other rather carefully, before nodding in resignation. "Fine," he reluctantly uttered. "Just be careful."

Matt sent him a small smile and nodded, making his way to the library.

The small library consisted of a small room packed with large bookshelves and several tables, with an artificial scent of roses, mingled with the aroma of aged paper inside ancient books waiting to be read. It now being after school, a few sat at the computers while others worked with books when Matt walked inside and sat in his usual spot in the corner, where no one could bother him. From there, he watched as several people came and went, when it was just him inside. At that moment, in walked Francis and another person, making their way towards him.

"Oh, hey Francis."

"Hi Matthieu, this is the friend of mine I need you to tutor." Beside him stood the intriguing albino he had seen previously, who gave him a large smile. "This is Gilbert."

That was the moment one could pinpoint when Matt felt a pang in his chest. His heart seemed to pace a bit quicker, his stomach twisted and turned like that of a roller coaster, and his throat swelled in itself. However, he shook the sensation off and delivered a small smile to the stranger. "Nice to meet you, I'm Matthew."

To the Canadian's dismay, the time flew by as fast as Alfred could run through an entire family meal and he had to say goodbye to the albino, heading home with his brother to the home he never felt welcome to. Through the front door, he shuffled up the stairs to his bedroom, where he tossed his things to the side and plopped down onto his bed, letting the events that occurred in the day slowly unfold in his mind.

He remembered the boy's smile, the way it looked so innocent. Never in his life had he seen someone with a smile like that. It was puzzling.

Not too soon after, he glanced over to the picture in the corner, the image of his father with Alfred's mother. The faces of a not-too pleased twelve-year-old Arthur glaring at Francis in the image made him chuckle, beside it was a picture of Alfred, suffocating Matt due to the excitement of having a brother who wasn't as mean as Artie. Soon enough, the memory that occurred just a few months ago flew back to him in a painful reminder. One of the numerous memories that made him fear abandonment returned, the wreck, the crisp verdant grass stained with crimson, the two forms covered by white sheets, a delicate feminine hand peeking from beneath it, and a gorgeous diamond and gold band wrapped around one of its fingers.

Matt ripped his eyes away from the picture and shook his head, fleeing the bedroom to the living room where Alfred sat playing video games.

* * *

"Oh hey Mattie, you wanna play with us?" Alfred chirped, holding up a spare console. Beside him sat two boys whom he met as Mathias and Ivan, both playing rather aggressively while Kiku lied on the sofa behind them, reading manga.

"Wait, I thought you and Ivan hated each other?" Matt replied.

"Oh we do, but he's still a pretty damn good player, so you in?"

"Sure," the Canadian mustered, taking the console and plopping down beside the two. He had unknowingly immersed himself in the middle of an all-out war between his party and that of others, playing a standoff between at least ten other players. (I know that there is a limit, but bear with me.)

"So, Mattie, you joining any clubs this year?" Mathias asked, eyes glued to the screen.

"I don't know." Matt replied, slowly but surely getting into the feel of the game.

"Come on Dude," Al whined. "We've been asking you to join our Daring Dudes group since Sophomore year, why won't you join!?"

"Leave him alone," Ivan replied cheerfully, "If he doesn't want to join a club, leave him be. Joining your club won't make his life any less mundane, it'll just get him hurt."

"My life isn't mundane!" Matt retaliated.

"Oh no, it really is." A voice uttered from the tv, answered.

"Lovino?"

"Yeah, you never want to hang out with any of us, and it's really starting to bother us- WHO THE FUCK JUST SHOT AT ME!"

"Ohonhonhon."

"Francis, how are you playing with them?" Matt asked through the mic on his headset.

"I'm at Antonio's house, I went over here a few minutes ago, but you didn't notice because you shut yourself up in your room."

"Which furthers our point even more." Antonio added, "we understand that you're still hurting from your mom and dad but it's been almost a year, you need to move on."

"It's not that, it's-" Once again, the poor Canadian was once cut off.

"Leave him alone guys, maybe he just got bit by the love bug and is too embarrassed to say anything." Elizabeta cut in. "AH FUCK YES, GOT YOU LOVINO. ARE YOU CRYING, CRY, IT FUELS ME!"

"Calm down Liz."

"Who invited the guy with the potato fetish?" Lovino groaned. "Hey everyone, Let's all go back to Bioshock!"

"Shut up," Ludwig retorted. "At least I didn't get pwned by a girl."

"You mean a guy dressed as a girl?"

"I heard that Lovino, don't be mad at me. You seriously need to take that stick out of your ass, oh wait, that's just Antonio's dick."

"Oooh." The entire group of players droned, a few laughing over the server.

"How do I shoot?" Feliciano's voice suddenly asked amidst all the abstract nonsense occurring around them.

"Feli..you're holding the console upside down…" Ludwig's voice replied with a sigh.

"What am I even doing here-Aru?" Yao asked.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING YOU FUCKING GRANDPA!" Lovino shouted as the Chinese male blew up everyone in his team.

Alfred laughed at the Italian's dismay, when a bullet ran through his character, knocking him from the tournament.

"Ivan, what the hell! Why did you shoot me, I'm on your team!" Alfred shouted to the Russian beside him.

"That doesn't change the fact that I absolutely abhor you."

"Well, I'm out." Elizabeta muttered, tossing her console down. "Someone shot me."

"Never underestimate my little sister Lilli." Another voice answered bluntly.

"Why is a twelve year old playing with u-WHO IN THE BLOODY HELL KILLED ME!? ALFRED!"

"Bro, it wasn't me!"

"IT WAS I, PETER!"

"WHAT? BERWALD, WHY IS YOUR LITTLE BROTHER PLAYING WITH US!"

"Ha! Now that I'm on the server I will eliminate-" At that moment, Peter's character was shot down by every player remaining in the game.

"I guess not!" Lovino remarked, laughing evilly.

"Wait, where's Gilbert, he's usually on by now."

"No, I think he's working on something. I'll go get him." Ludwig disappeared for a moment and shortly returned with another player. "NOW THE PARTY DON'T START TILL I WALK IN!"

That was enough. The incoherent screaming was bad enough as it was, but for him to come on, all his nervousness took over and he stood up. "I gotta go Al, i've got homework to do " The Canadian disconnected his console, removed his headset and fled upstairs, the American growling into his mic. "See what y'all did, y'all drove away my brother."

Matt sauntered into his bedroom and hopped into his bed, pulling the covers over his head as the absence of the sounds in the atmosphere lulled him to sleep.

The next morning, the sunlight seeped through his blinds and pried his eyes apart, forcing him to wake up. With one glance at the clock, Matt stumbled onto the floor, pulling the comforter apart which happened to have snaked around his legs. Kicking the sheets off frantically, he ran into the closet for a quick change, when Alfred kicked his door down and stepped in. "Sorry Bro, I overslept. Arthur went with Lukas and Emil, and Francis got a ride from Antonio! We're on our own!"

"Wait, but Ivan lives like a block from here."

"I'd rather get skinned alive than get help from that demon, let's go!"

Still groggy, the two hopped out of Alfred's car and dashed to the entrance along with the other infamous school slackers. None paid note that Alfred was still nearly asleep while driving, explaining the many items including pedestrians lingering on the car's bumper.

Matt stormed the building, hair disheveled, clothes wrinkled, and his glasses dangling from the tip of his nose. Meanwhile, Alfred yelled a quick 'see ya later' and slid into his classroom, leaving the Canadian to the foot of the stairwell. Three steps into the trek and his untied shoelaces decided to give out, knocking the teen to the floor along with all his school books. With an annoyed huff and a mix of English and French curses, he knelt to the floor to retrieve them.

As he reached for a strayed book, another hand beat him to it. "Today hasn't been a good day for you, huh?"

The blonde's violet hues met a pair of vivacious crimson orbs, a bold smile surfacing on his features. Suddenly the bell broke the eye contact, causing panic to rush through him. "Oh no, I'm late!"

"Ah, who cares? Come on, let's go somewhere fun!"

The Canadian stole glances at the staircase, and back at the German with the inviting smile. He was already forgotten in most classes as it is, why not actually skip for once? "I'm late anyway, what more damage can it do ?"


	2. Chapter 2

"So what made you so late?" The albino asked rather calmly, taking a sip out of a coffee cup.

"Oh the usual, Alfred and I overslept." Matthew replied nonchalantly, both teens spectating other students enter the school from their spot on the rooftop. With an exasperated sigh, Gilbert leaned back in his seat, "I could show up on time, like my little brother Ludwig, I just prefer not to. It's always Ludwig this, Ludwig that. They always compare me to him, though we're nothing alike."

"I know how you feel, everyone mistakes me for my brother, but then when they realize I'm not Alfred, no one remembers I exist."

The German chuckled, "It just seems the world favors our brothers than us."

"I guess it does." The blonde sighed with his eyes downcast to the cracked concrete.

At that moment, a shrill ring of a bell resonated in the floors below them, signaling the end of first period.

"Well, I guess it's time to get going." The albino uttered, groaning as he slung his bag over his shoulder. "But we should do this more often."

"Agreed." The Canadian chirped in agreement, shifting to the door. The German followed reluctantly, where the door softly creaked open to avert attention by nearby passing students.

As they passed by a certain classroom, a loud sound erupted and out tumbled Yao in their path, hair disheveled, his clothes torn and tarnished from unknown substances. The two rushed to the older teen's side, easing him to his feet. "Are you okay?"

"Watch your siblings, they said," Yao uttered, his left eye twitching. "It'll be easy they said."

Matt peered over through the door, taking a step back in horror of the dispute that unfolded before them. Inside, Yao's younger siblings ran amok, splattering paint, throwing things, shouting several profanities at each other, while his only female sisters fought on the ground like animals. "Let go of my hair, Mei!" One in a ponytail groaned, her words muffled as her face was pressed against the now blood stained tile floor.

"Not until you admit it!" Mei growled, tugging on the girl's hair.

"Never!" The other snarled in reply, grabbing the other and throwing her across the room.

"They've been going at it for a while, I tried breaking them up, and one of them growled at me. The teacher and the other students ran out, unsure whether to call the cops or animal control! I sent Kiku in there to talk some sense into them and I'm waiting on him to come back."

At that moment, said teen stepped out, still intact. However, on closer inspection, once he turned entirely, the other half of his body was completely covered in ink. "Yeah, you better go with Animal Control, no officer can stop what's going on in there."

At that moment Alfred, Ivan and Natalya approached the classroom, eyes fastened on the four fellow classmates. "Hey Dudes, what up? I don't recall you guys signing up for this class."

"We're not, Gilbert and I found Yao here. His siblings are in there making a mess of things!" Matthew uttered quietly.

The blonde leaned his ear against the wall, listening to the shouts and screams inside. "Oh wow, sounds like a party in there!" Al shouted, his smile and eyes growing brighter by the second.

"You wanna go in there? Well, if you think it's a party, then go for it!" Gilbert chirped, earning a confused look from Matt.

"But-" The German immediately clamped a mouth over the blonde, pulling him to the side. "Yeah, go for it! Kiku here told me it was worth it!"

"WHOOO PARTAY!" Alfred cheered, charging straight into the chaos inside. Almost immediately, the screams became louder and a loud crash went off, shaking the school to its deepest corners when Alfred ran out after half of a millisecond later, screaming. "WHY WOULD YOU GUYS DO THIS?"

"No reason," Gilbert replied cheekily.

"Gilbert, might I try to go inside?" Ivan then asked, a dark aura enveloping his person while his sweet smile remained.

"Sure, knock yourself out!"

As Natalya tried calming the terrified American, Ivan pulled out a large metal pipe and strolled in. For a few moments, the pandemonium subsided when all of a sudden, "Hello."

Several horrified screams rang through the classrooms along with several 'KATHUNKS' of Ivan's infamous pipe, as each of Yao's siblings fled the classroom in terror, some with several injuries from said object.

"No one breaks a person like Ivan does." Alfred muttered.

"Well, now that that's over, I'll be headed to class! See you later Matt!" The Albino chirped in that cheerful voice of his, giving Matt a strong pat on the shoulder. Upon seeing this, excitement enveloped Kiku and Elizabeta, who had happened to pass by. "MY NEW OTP!" The two shouted with bloodied noses before scurrying away to their designated classrooms.

* * *

"Alright, no cheating on this test. And please, I know I'm not saying this to all of you, but no more brawls. It seems that always by the end of this period, someone gets sent to the hospital, or somehow wars are started. Now I'm not saying any names but-" All eyes turned to all three of Matt's siblings. "Why are you looking at us?"

"You know why."

 _Flashback:_

" _Alfred, where's my lunch sac?"_

" _I don't know, but you're always welcome to eat burgers with me."_

" _You little wanker, what did you do with my scones?!"_

" _I didn't do anything, maybe they just decided to do the world a favor and flush themselves away!"_

" _I'll have you know, that was a recipe from our dear Mum!"_

" _A recipe for petrified couch stuffing?"_

 _ **"Oh fuck you!"**_

" _Whatever, both of you have a terrible taste in food anyway, it's not like eating Alfred's food will kill you."_

" _Shut it frog, shouldn't you be in a biology class being dissected right about now!"_

" _Shouldn't you be in a cooking class learning how to not make your food taste like it came straight from a toilet!"_

" _That's it!" Arthur growled, lunging at the two._

"My knuckles still hurt," The Brit murmured, rubbing his sore hands. Alfred looked down at his glasses, now repaired after the fight, as Francis rubbed the back of his head. "My hair's still trying to grow where you ripped out that chunk of hair, Arthur."

"I'll gladly rip more out if you continue to pester me."

"Only if it'll satisfy your undying love for me!"

"Oh really, then maybe I shouldn't tell you that Italy drew a smiling face in your bald spot. "

"WHA-? How dare he!" Francis exclaimed, placing a hand over the spot.

"At least Romano didn't, his choice was draw a dick instead." Alfred then chimed in, nonchalantly taking bites of a cookie that he obtained from God knows where.

The conversation faded from Matt's ears as he remembered the conversation he had with Gilbert only a few hours prior. It was the only time he was able to speak to him. Growing up, all he was able to do was admire Gilbert from a distance when he was around Francis. Unlike Alfred, he was never the little brother who wanted to tag along. He always maintained his distance.

At that moment, Matthew looked down to see Alfred slip a note to him, he quickly averting his eyes to his test while the teacher paced to and fro at the front of the class. 'So why were you hanging out with Gil today?'

Matt read the message discreetly and scribbled down a response, slipping it back to the other. 'I was late, so we skipped together'

'why didn't you tell me? I would've totally skipped with you.'

'I didn't know.'

'Well, whatever. But has someone caught your eye yet?'

'Well, maybe.'

'Really? Who?'

For what seemed an eternity, he thought over whether telling his brother or not. He knew that among everyone, he'd understand him most, however, out of that same group, he had the biggest mouth. Reluctant, he scribbled a name down and slid it back. Eager, Alfred snatched the slip of paper away and opened it. Matthew waited in silence as his filled out the rest of his test when Alfred suddenly blurts out: "What!"

"Mr. Jones, is there something wrong?" The teacher interrogated, with all eyes on the blonde.

"Yeah, I just realized that-"

 _'_ _Well Matt, it seems you screwed yourself over this time.'_ Matt rested his head on his cheek, shaking his head, eyes on his test as he prepared himself for Alfred's loud announcement to the whole class.

Alfred took a huge breath, "I _still_ fucking hate you Arthur!"

"What the fuck did you just say to me!?" Arthur snapped back at his younger brother, now standing face to face with him. Matthew's face met with his desk as he gave up his own sanity, or what he had left as another fight broke out between his siblings and teachers had to drag them out to the office.

* * *

 **"** **So Alfred and Arthur are in the office?" Tino repeated back to his Canadian friend, who just nodded in reply. Beside them, Berwald let out a snort, Tino's head cocking in his direction and sending him a glare. Almost immediately, the Swede went silent and the small Finnish boy regained his grin, letting out a soft chuckle, "Come on, don't act so surprised, this is the fifth time this week after all."**

"So what do you think they're going to do with them?" Elizabeta interjected, sliding into a seat beside the two Scandinavians.

"I would assume it would be another detention, but on account that this time Arthur threw a desk at the teacher, ripped another chunk of hair out of Francis and made him cry, and Alfred biting the principal, I'm not so sure now."

"It should be fine." Kiku assured nonchalantly, eyes still glued to one of his manga.

Then in walked Alfred, plopping down into an empty seat at the table. The teen snaked an arm around his puzzled step brother, leaning close to him. "Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?"

A bit nervous, the blonde accepted, following the American out of the lunchroom and to the hallways.

"Alright so how long have you liked Gilbert?"

"Wait, you're not even going to criticize me for not liking someone different?"

"Let me be straight with ya, Bro, we all kinda knew that'd you'd have to lower your standards for you to actually like someone."

"That's not very encouraging," Matt deadpanned, arms crossed over his chest in a huff.

"Whatever, anyway, how are you going to be able to be near him? If Francis found out, he'd probably go ballistic!"

"I know, that's why I just told you and only you. Please, don't tell anyone about this." Matthew pleaded.

"Alright, I hear ya loud and clear-

"HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN DETENTION!"

Alfred took a slow glance at the fuming teacher and back to his brother, then burst into a full sprint out the front doors.

* * *

The next morning, the average schedule happened again, "Now I understand why everyone says my life is mundane." Matthew muttered. As he made his way to his class, he saw Gilbert sitting across the room, doing something strange and his brother cheering him on. "What are you guys doing?"

"Snorting pixie sticks!" Antonio chirped as if what he said was absolutely normal.

Gilbert took a large snort of the candy and his friends laughed, all until he began twitching. "I'm gonna-"

"Gilbert, did you try setting my piano on fire again-" Roderich screamed, storming over to the cluttered group of teenagers.

Gilbert could not even say a word before he ripped the largest sneeze of his life, spewing the candy powder in the Austrian's face.

Annoyed, the boy removed his glasses and began wiping them off with a cloth, leaving the room without as so much as a sound.

Gilbert looked at the doorway, and back at his friends. "...Well I'm gonna die. "

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, I just snorted in that uptight kid's face. He's already thrown his girlfriend Liz at me, and once he chased me down with a battle axe he borrowed from Mathias. He would've got me too of he hadn't gotten tired and went to nap like the old man he is."

Not too long after, the bell rang, and the crowd dispersed. Matt slipped into his seat and began to work on his assignments. Occasionally he would glance up at the board for help, and would soon return to his work. One of those times however, he caught a certain albino watching him from his side of the room.

When the bell rang and the class ended, the door broke down with Elizabeta in a fury, smashing the several remaining fragments of the door with a sledgehammer.

"Where the hell does she get these weapons!" The teacher screamed, running to her desk.

Gilbert grinned at the fuming Hungarian. "Hey Liz. Now you may be wondering what happened to me and Roderich but I have a perfectly...good...reason…-"

The German burst into a full sprint and slid past Elizabeta, who screamed in rage and chased after him. "Get back here you moron!"

"You have to catch me first!"

Flabbergasted as usual, Matt collected his things and moved to his next class.


	3. Chapter 3

Several days passed since Matt had seen Gilbert but didn't mind as he assumed Elizabeta had given him a savage beating and was unable to go back to classes due to injuries. He vacillated over the possibilities but..

Gilbert was Gilbert.

"Where is he? Is he sick?" Matt asked his friends at the table.

"Maybe he's dead? Liz?" Roderich asked.

"Nah I've been too busy," Liz dismissed with a wave of her hand.

It was more likely than most that he just wanted to skip or he was waiting for Liz's anger to subside. Whatever really did happen didn't matter as the days had slowly rolled into the weekend, the days when Matt usually spent asleep, mentally preparing himself for social contact at school on Monday.

The blonde reclined in his bed, silently looking over his homework. Paper sprawled in a semicircle, he observed the material on every page to decide on which to start first. Before he could make a decision, the door to his room slammed open with a beaming America.

"Dude, guess what!"

Matthew looked up at him, adjusting his glasses, "What, are you and Arthur finally out of detention?"

"Nah, principal's still pissed at me for escaping but even better! I think I might have a way to get you and Gil together!"

"Al, when I told you this, it was more of just a small confession. I don't want help to catch his attention; after all, I'm sure there are thousands of other people he'd rather be with than someone like me."

The American glanced down worriedly at his brother, his face contorting into a rare frown. "No need to be so negative about it! Who knows? Maybe he likes you back!?"

Matt faced him with a blank face, face turning into a 'really?' look, his curl twitching in annoyance. Alfred continued, disregarding the look. It was hard to tell by this point if it was that he didn't care, or that he just didn't notice. "Look, I've got a plan, but you gotta work with me." Either it works out and you and Gil go out, or if it gets obvious that he isn't interested, we'll pull out and he'll never know!"

The thought intrigued him, a plan to get him to get him and Gilbert together? And if it fails, Gil never knows and his friendship with him isn't jeopardized? It sounded like a win-win, but with Alfred, unpredictability is imminent. It seemed too good to be true but decided if he didn't at least try, he'd be regretting it for the rest of his life.

With a sigh of resignation, Matthew smiled. "Okay, I'll give it a shot."

Alfred's eyes brightened at the Canadian's words, the same look he gets when a parent tells their child they can have cake. "Awesome dude! You won't regret this! Now I'm just gonna let the others know that you're okay with it!"

Matthew's blood ran cold. " _O-Others!?"_

Al nodded with enthusiasm, "Kiku and Elizabeta mostly. They've been shipping the both of you since freshman year and when I told them that you liked him, they looked about ready to cry tears of joy."

"You told them!"

"Yeah," Alfred chirped," But just them. I had to Bro, they threatened to kick my ass when I wouldn't tell them. I promise they were the only ones who knew. Artie and Francis are completely oblivious."

Matt let out a sigh of relief, "Okay, so what next?"

"Leave that to the hero!"

* * *

Kiku and Elizabeta seemed to have the whole scenario written down in their minds somewhere over how this was going to play out once that Alfred had given them the green light to help.

"How did you guys come up with these ideas?"

"From the doujinshis that Kiku illustrated himself and fanfictions that Elizabeta wrote." Alfred then leaned over, "Just to let you know, the majority is smut. It's weird, but it's drawn and written surprisingly well."

Matt felt his face heat up at the word 'smut', but decided to ignore it to deal with the matter at hand.

"Well, Liz and I have decided that the tutor relationship with Gil may be the best course of action to follow. You're already becoming fast friends since it's obvious that he trusts you after he told you a few intimate aspects of his life. I think that if you keep tutoring him, you'll spend more time with him and we can coach you from the library behind the bookshelves." Kiku explained, Liz nodding vigorously behind him.

Matt felt the nerves beginning to creep up on him at the thought of being observed, usually being invisible was frustrating for him, but this attention was making him want to be invisible again. However, this was his only chance, so he had to push those negative thoughts away. "Okay, let's do it then."

Kiku and Liz looked at each other and high-fived, "To making our OTPs real! Now let's get Ivan and Alfred together!"

Alfred, however, looked like he was ready to jump out the window. "Nope, not a chance. I'm straight."

Liz snorted, "Not in our fanfics you're not. Heed my warning, by graduation, you and Ivan will be canon." With a wicked laugh, she ran away, dragging Kiku away with her. "Let's go, we have more ships to sail!"

Matt didn't know whether to be hopeful or absolutely terrified.

* * *

The day once again flew by quickly and Matthew found himself at the door of the library. From the entrance, he could see Gilbert sitting at a table with his books ready for Matthew to help him study with. ' _At least he isn't dead'._

If he had any confidence to begin with, it had flown out the window and collided with the concrete by now. He was considering going back on his word when Kiku and Liz appeared in the doorway, a friendly yet malevolent aura enveloping them. "Where do you think you're going?" Liz began.

"Um-uh, I-I was going to go get something I forgot in my class." Matthew stammered, when suddenly Liz and Kiku began pushing him towards Gilbert's table.

"No way! We've invested too much time into writing fanfics for you to chicken out! GO!"

The blond looked like he was about to have a stroke, his anxiety seeping into his being, all while the two continued to push him forward.

There was no getting out of this….

"Hi Matthew. What is the unawesome shemale and Kiku doing here?"

Welp if Gilbert didn't die then, he was definitely going to die today. So much for trying to help Matthew get closer with Gilbert.

* * *

 _ **A/n: Wow, a**_ _ **2 year**_ _**hiatus, a new record. Also, I appreciate the reviews. I literally forgot about this fanfic until I was looking through my old laptop and found an unfinished chapter. Here it is, and I've decided to make Kiku and Elizabeta shippers...so I hope you guys enjoyed it! Is the fandom even alive though, it feels like it's deader than HRE these days. Thanks for reading!**_


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